Month: November 2014

There is a small bakery/cafe just 2 miles away from home, that I has been curious about since forever, but didn’t get a chance to try out. Finally, we went there for brunch today. We ordered two most popular menus as a lot of yelpers recommend.

I instantly got happy by its looking, but even happier when I bit my baguette. It’s crunchy outside, but warm and soft inside. Tomatoes are sweet and ripe too. I like all ingredients are so fresh and everything is minimally seasoned. Extra effort can be seen to make the plates pretty, such as flower shaped butter or circled pepper for egg.

Coffee was not bad either. We, especially he are very picky about coffee, but it was enjoyable. I wish they served a glass of white wine though.

Like this:

We had dinner with two other couples at Michael’s On Naples in Long Beach. It was a cozy restaurant with live music.

We all had prix fixe three course menu ($50 per person). It is a Italian restaurant, but they skip appetizer on the menu although it is listed as antipasto, secondi and dolce. Their “antipasto” is not quite appetizer, but it’s more like primo piatto.

I should’ve considered the balance of whole meal and chosen salad for appetizer. Some people jump started with pasta. My meal ended up with enough protein but little vegetables.

Antipasto: duck & polenta

my secondo: scallop

his secondo: pork osso buco (his antipasto: pasta bolognese)

dolce: almond cake

Overall, food and service were pretty decent for the price. I just wish they had suggested better balanced course with more colorful veggies or cheese.

Like this:

We didn’t visit my family in other state for Thanksgiving this year. It was a quiet one just by ourselves. We relaxed all day besides going grocery shopping and watched two “classic” movies, My Neighbor Totoro and Good Will Hunting.

brunch: takana origiri with roasted barley tea

He had tennis practice in the early morning and I made rice balls for him. So myself too.

I cooked a simple and quick dinner for Thanksgiving. Surprisingly, it impressed him a lot. Yay!

Chicken Cordon Bleu, Sauteed Spinach & Mushed Potatoes

Fontina cheese and Italian ham are used as the original recipe for Cordon Bleu, but I substituted a sliced pepper jack cheese and no ham. It was not bad at all.

Clear & flavorful with a lot of meatballs (more like patties). So delicious!

Boss buys us four color dessert. Made me full till night.

I had a stick of celery and tiny onigiri for dinner.

******************
breakfast: cutties + ginger hot water

double dutch muffin + coffee
Not enough coffee in the bottle this morning. He admits there was not enough roasted coffee beans, which means he roasted some and we are going to have freshest coffee tomorrow morning 🙂